crossrhodes

Move over, Jennifer Aniston!  My baby’s bed-head can beat your salon-do any day!

She got her first haircut a couple of weeks ago.  I only cut the mullet, nearly 2 inches off the back, because no child of mine will be sporting a mullet!  Now, if only the hair on her crown, what I call duck feathers, would catch up and hang down.

Meanwhile, my hair has been shedding.  I mean SHEDDING!!! I’m like a freakin’ cat!  It’s everywhere!  My parenting newsletter tells me it’s normal postpartum.  Change in hormones, blah, blah, blah.  I’m constantly cleaning the drain of hair after I shower.  I’d take a picture for show and tell but I thought that might be gross for some of you.  I just hope it grows back soon or I might have to buy a wig before Christmas.

On a very different note: Shanah Tovah!  It’s Rosh Hashanah! Happy New Year to my half-Jewish family and Jewish friends!

Layla with my OB

I just reviewed our recent health insurance claims. Holy cow!!! Almost $4k for the obstetrician and surgery alone. We have no out-of-pocket cost (except for premiums) but still… that’s a lot of money for an hour’s procedure. For that much, I would’ve expected a Dr. McDreamy for an OB and dramatic spot lighting in the OR to complement my skin tone. Hmmm… I feel jipped… or have watched too many Grey’s Anatomy episodes. BTW, the OR during my C-section is nothing like the ORs on TV. It was bright, cold, the machines were noisy, and the staff chit-chatted over me like it was happy hour =)

The hospital bill was another $4k for room and board. It would probably be half that if not for all the tubes I was strapped to, some of which was unnecessary, in my humble opinion. i.e. The happy juice they gave me on the first night. It was awesome, but still unnecessary. Seriously (again, too much Grey’s), a thousand bucks a night? It was hardly a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons experience.

I wonder how much it costs to give birth in a birthing center or even at home with a midwife, or what the bill would’ve been if I’d given birth vaginally instead of via C-section.

For my “last supper” before being induced on Monday, we went out to dinner at a Thai/Malaysian restaurant on Saturday night. It technically wasn’t my last, but I wanted the celebratory “last supper” at least 24 hours before pushing in labor, if yah know what I mean, especially when it involves spicy food.

James wanted pork fried rice. For cryin’ out loud, try something new! It’s not everyday we’re in an authentic Asian restaurant! Don delegated the ordering to me and I tried not to go overboard, knowing my family’s food preferences.

When I’m in a Thai/Malay restaurant, I have to have the obligatory Roti Canai (a light pancake dipped in curry sauce) and Tom Yum (a sour and spicy soup) for the first course. I knew they’d like the sweet and spicy Mango Chicken and Golden Squid fried with chili peppers. James will eat any seafood as long as its fried. I craved the Kangkong Belacan (water spinach in spicy shrimp sauce), hoping Don would try it since he likes spinach and knowing James wouldn’t touch it because it’s green.

They ate it all up, of course. The boys cleaned up the chicken and squid. James learned that Tom Yum tastes very much like his favorite Filipino dish, Sinigang. Everyone likes Roti Canai; its just bread after all. The greens weren’t popular but it meant more for me! Yum! I enjoyed the leftover Kangkong tonight before I go on nothing but ice chips tomorrow.

Let’s see… nothing but ice chips… not even coffee. I can’t remember the last time I survived a day without coffee. Is there an epidural for cranky???

I’m scheduled to be induced on Monday morning, April 28. I chose the induction rather than schedule a c-section, but I may end up in c-section anyway. This being my first delivery, the doctors are concerned of the baby’s size (10 lbs at 38 weeks) and the apparently high volume of amniotic fluid. So, I check in to the Sheraton… I mean, hospital… on Sunday night and hope to have the baby before Tuesday.

If you don’t hear from me before Sunday, it’s because I’m too busy FREAKING OUT!!! I can’t believe it’s time! It seems like just yesterday when I took the pregnancy test. Now my house is full of baby paraphernalia but I’m not done purging and re-organizing the house yet. I know, I know, it’s small potatoes. But I’ve got this nesting bug that keeps nagging at me.

Anyway, pray for me! I have a low threshold for pain and I’ve never ever been in a hospital except when I worked in one and when I sprained an ankle… but 5 hours in the ER waiting room doesn’t count as a hospital stay.

Went to my 37-wk routine exam yesterday plus an ultrasound in the afternoon. The ultrasound calculated a 9lb 10oz baby. No typo there. 9 pounds and 10 ounces!!!

The average baby at this stage weighs between 6-7lbs. I’m carrying an average baby plus 3 bags of Starbucks coffee. No wonder I’m in more pain than discomfort lately from the hips down.

Now what? Do I get induced early? Schedule a c-section? Start prepping the stuffing and gravy for the Thanksgiving turkey that’s coming out of me? I’m not sure. My OB will have more info next week on my 38-wk exam after she’s reviewed the data.

P.S. The baby has HUGE CHEEKS! I saw it on the ultrasound. But just before the tech can snap a pic, he covered his face w/ his hands. And don’t read anything into the pronoun. We still don’t know if its a boy or girl. I almost asked the tech yesterday, but I figured I already waited this long and only have a couple of weeks to go. Besides, Don would’ve killed me =)